RONSTADT TAKES ON THE PRESS

LOOK Magazine- June 11, 1979

RONSTADT TAKES ON THE PRESSForeign correspondents and photographers
zero in on the governor and the pop star.

For some reason, Linda Ronstadt and Jerry Brown
thought they could sneak off for a quiet vacation
in Africa. But for five days, they battled more
than two dozen press people waiting in Nairobi
to cover the fall of Idi Amin. At one point, when
Linda walked out of Nairobi's Norfolk Hotel, she
was set upon by 10 photographers. While she hid
her face, a phalanx of friends protected her-
smashing a few cameras and twisting a few arms
as they went.

The photographers insist that Linda is partially
responsible for the hullabaloo: all she had to do,
they say, was stand still, answer questions, and
let them shoot a few pictures.

But Ronstadt is defensive. "When I see all those
guys out there with those machines pointed at me, I
just freak," she explains. "There is never an end
to the pictures. They say, 'Just one and we'll
leave you alone.' But they never do."

Linda finally started to relax on the fifth day, as
she waited for Jerry to finish a tour of the Kenyan
wilderness. She said she'd take some pictures of
the photographers who'd been dogging her. "Will I
get credit?" she asked.

That broke the ice. Soon she was opening beers, talking
music, and trading jokes. The hostile press turned
friendly.

The same day, Kampala fell to the Tanzanians, and the
press siege was lifted. Linda and Jerry slipped away,
and for the three remaining days of the trip, they
got their vacation.

Ronstadt (below) turns the tables-with a shot of photographers on her trail (above).